


The Past Haunts

by supershadsy



Series: Limit Breaker [3]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:19:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6047905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supershadsy/pseuds/supershadsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud wakes up from a nightmare, Link is there to comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Past Haunts

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who watched Crisis Core a couple days ago? Guess who can't stop writing Clink? Enjoy!

_ (We’re...in the back of that pickup truck. _

_ Don’t know how the hell we got there, but I remember the sensation of it so clearly. Me by the tailgate, and him by the cab. Cheerful as ever. Gods, I missed that face. _

_ “Say, you ever miss home?” he says, bright blue eyes at the sky. “I don’t know if I ever really do, but I always wonder about my folks. Hope they’re doing okay.” _

_ I nod. Everything I seem to do seems to take a lot of effort. I blink, and there’s a trickle of blood running from his lip. “You…” I start to say, but the words won’t keep coming out. My tongue feels too big for my mouth. _

_ He wipes his mouth absently and continues. “We’ll get you fixed up once we get to Midgar. Find Aerith, keep out of sight.” He coughs into his hand, and there’s more blood that comes out. _

_ “Z...Zack?” I say. _

_ I blink again, and there are cuts and bruises all around him, his uniform dirty and worn. “What’s the matter?” he asks. I blink again. There’s more blood, gunshot wounds in his chest. Despite this, he laughs. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be all right. I’ll make sure of it.” _

_ He’s smiling, even though now he suddenly has a sword straight through his chest. I start to scream, but I can’t do anything, I can’t move. “You’re coming home with me…” he sings, and he laughs, his head cracking to the side, too far on his shoulder for it to possibly be attached. Even my screams are weak, my throat’s all closed up and Zack is hurt so bad oh Gods please please let me out let me out Zack don’t die DON’T DIE AGAIN NO GODS PLEASE PLEASE--) _

Cloud woke up, drenched in sweat, to Link shaking him, and he sat up immediately, trying desperately to hold in his whimpering. “A-ah...nnn...Z-Zack…” He gasped for air, and Link rubbed his back as his back hunched over in the bed.

“Bad dream?” Link muttered.

“Y-yeah,” he choked, his hands shivering beneath the sheets. “I...really...really bad dream…”

Link nudged his side and scooted him over, in order to sit close beside him. It was hard to see in the dark, but Cloud could feel the concern emanating from his presence. Link’s body was warm underneath the thin t-shirt he wore, comfort against his own bare arms. “I dreamt...about Zack again,” he said, still catching his breath.

“A friend?” Link asked. He spoke close to his ear, chin perched on his shoulder.

“Mm,” Cloud said. “Zack was...really encouraging. He was the best friend I had back home. He would’ve...carried me from Niebelheim all the way to Midgar on his back if he had to. He told me to follow my dreams, and always defend m-my honor…”

He could feel Link smile in his ear. “You’re remembering things,” he commented.

“I...guess I am.” Cloud’s eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark, and he shrugged his shoulder to motion that he could see him, even if it was grainy. “Ever since the Fortress, things are less...patchy. I don’t remember everything, but…” He sighed. “I remember him. Probably because one of the Shadows I saw took his form.” Cloud’s throat felt tight.  _ I’ve been going over the details, what I can remember, over and over before I sleep. I’m… _

_ afraid to forget. I  _ can’t  _ forget him. I made… _

_ (...) _

_ a promise... _

He stared at the crumpled bedsheets, his heart rate slowing to a more tolerable pace. “You...remind me of him, in a lot of ways,” Cloud remarked.  _ You’re both kind, and bright, a little playful, optimistic...and you both kept an eye on me when I was struggling.  _

_ I’m talking way too much...I’m tired, but _

_ (“You’re my living legacy.”) _

He winced.  _ I don’t think I want to see him again so soon, not like that… _

“Cloud,” Link murmured, his brow creased. “I’m...not Zack.” He waved his hand in front of his face, and when Cloud nodded, he began to sign.  _ “I’ll never be Zack, either.”  _

He nodded, just barely, mostly for himself.  _ He’s...not.  _ Cloud’s eyes shifted to meet Link’s, who met them as soon as he sensed them.  _ There’ll never be another Zack Fair.  _

_ But… _

Link’s eyes flickered between his own and his lips, glittering in the moonlight, and he nuzzled against his cheek, kissing it as he did so.  _ He knows what it’s like to live in the past like that. What little past you can remember here.  _ Cloud ran a hand through Link’s hair, soft and fluffy.  _ We’re a lot...more similar than it seems.  _

“Link,” he murmured, leaning his head heavily against his own. “Thank you.”

“For what?” His voice was barely audible.

He paused, one of his hands slowly searching for Link’s, and he managed to find it, taking it loose into his own. “Being you, I guess,” he replied.

Cloud felt Link’s small, throaty chuckle against him, and the latter chose to also reply with a kiss, easy and slow.  _ I don’t know if I’d be able to deal with things like this if it weren’t for him. Who knows if I’d even want to. But him… _

_...he feels like sunshine, and I can never quite get enough.  _

When Link broke the kiss, he hugged him, whole and tight. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I know,” Cloud replied. “H-hey, uh, I know...um, it’s small, but could you…”

He felt Link nod in the crook of his shoulder, and he eased him down into the bed, situating so that Cloud was on the inside, against the wall. He reached for the covers and scooped them over them both, spooning tight against Cloud’s side.  _ We don’t sleep together that much,  _ he thought, staring at the underside of the other bunk. He had one arm around Link beside him, and the other resting on his forehead.  _ It’s so comforting, though. Being this close. _

_ The bed’s nowhere near big enough, but...it’ll do.  _

Link started dozing almost immediately, his quiet snores lulling him into a drowsy state as well.  _ Just go to sleep, Cloud. It’ll be better in the morning. _

_ And he’ll be right here.  _

He smirked before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.


End file.
